Sony's PlayStation Network was hit by a devastating denial-of-service attack over Christmas. Now that the gaming service is back online, should the company be offering players some sort of peace offering? If so, what's a reasonable gift in this scenario? It's quite a conundrum, because the festive downtime wasn't predominantly Sony's fault. A hacking group called Lizard Squad orchestrated the attack (they also targeted Xbox Live) causing all online functionality to collapse. It meant new console owners on Christmas Day were unable to redeem game download codes or create new PSN accounts, while existing PlayStation owners were locked out of the online multiplayer modes for their favorite games.

PlayStation owners are being compensated for the downtime suffered by PSN over Christmas.The PSN was brought down by a group (called Lizard Squad) who apparently wanted to show Sony and Microsoft how easy it is to bring down their networks. But they only really succeeded in angering gamers and upsetting everyday consumers.The networks were the subject of a DDOS attack, which left both PSN and Xbox Live down for days.Sony is compensating PSN owners by offering a ten per cent discount on purchases and a five-day extension to their PlayStation Plus subscription.“Since access to PlayStation Network was impacted during the holidays, we wanted to show our appreciation for your patience by offering all PlayStation Plus members that had an active membership or free trial on December 25th a membership extension of five days,” Sony informed fans via its blog.“The extension will be automatically applied, so no action is necessary to receive the extension. We will post additional information here on the blog when the extension becomes available. If your membership or trial ends before the extension is available, you will receive five days of Plus to enjoy once the extension becomes available (we will notify you when).“In addition, sometime this month we will announce that for a limited time, we will be offering a 10 percent discount code good for a one-time discount off a total cart purchase in the PlayStation Store as a thank you to ALL PSN members.“The discount can be used towards great content available on PS Store including blockbuster new releases, award winning indie games, game add-ons and season passes, and an enormous selection of TV and Movies.”

Last month the PS4 manufacturer teased its January lineup by noting that it would include standalone DLC inFamous: First Light and The Swapper on PS4, but now we've got the PS3 and Vita titles too.First off, it's worth noting that The Swapper is Cross-Buy on all three Sony platforms, not just PS4 as it was teased for last month.The PS3 offerings are the not too shabby Prototype 2 and DuckTales Remastered.Elsewhere, Vita owners will receive the acclaimed retro arcade game Whoa Dave!, the latest from the Bit.Trip developer Choice Provisions (formerly known as Gaijin Games). The developer noted on Twitter that the eventual PS4 release of Whoa Dave! will offer Cross-Buy support, so if you get the Vita version now you'll be able to snag the PS4 one at no additional cost once that's launched.The other Vita freebie for the month is Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition, unless you live in Germany where Sony can't release it ostensibly due to the country's classification board not allowing it. But fear not, Germans, for Sony is offering you Gravity Crash Ultra instead.You've still got five days left to grab the December PS Plus offerings of Injustice Gods Among Us: Ultimate Edition, Secret Ponchos, Hitman Trilogy HD, Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, Final Horizon and Titan Attacks.Earlier Sony noted that PlayStation Plus members will get an additional five days added to their subscription, among other discounts, to make up for the DDoS attack that closed its service for a few days over the holiday.

A couple of days before Christmas, KaKaRoTo released the PS3xport source code on GitHub and posted info about it in his blog. PS3xport makes it possible to modify PS3 backups created with the standard 'Backup Utility' tool in XMB even on a system with original firmware (OFW). The tool relies on a method by flatz to extract IDPS (PS3 device ID) by sniffing the network traffic from the PS3 console via a PC connected to internet, flatz indirectly released a windows proxy to handle this called idpstealer which was posted by zecoxao over at playstationhax.it. Since then flatz has released arctool and arcunpack which pretty much does the same as KaKaRoTo's PS3xport. The related files can also be found in the download section here at EurAsia."

Get lost in the expansive, awe-inspiring gaming universe, no matter where you go with the thrilling contents of this bundle. Delivering amazing versatility and portable connectivity, the PS Vita opens up your world to seemingly endless gaming possibilities, while the 8GB memory card and a digital voucher for Borderlands 2 instantly offer access to heart-pounding action, adrenaline-pumping adventure and more. The gaming sphere is brimming with exciting entertainment options from strategy and role playing games to intense and action-packed shooters, so you know that wherever you are, you can dive into your PS Vita and travel to other worlds. So revel in the power of the PS Vita resting in your hands and embark on a ruthless quest for revenge and redemption in Borderlands 2. Your gaming adventure has begun.

PCSX2 Git (2015/01/05) is compiled. PCSX2 is an open source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator for the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. With the most recent versions, many PS2 games are playable (although speed limitations have made play-to-completion tests for many games impractical), and several games are claimed to have full functionality.

PCSX2 Git Changelog:
* cmake: try to validate the user option
* GTK3_API requires a wxWidget that support it too
=> avoid complexe compilation error
* SDL2_API requires a wxWidget without SDL support (wxUSE_LIBSDL = 0)
=> avoid run time crash
SDL check hypothesis: wx is linked against SDL1.2 and not SDL2. It would need to be improved on a distant future
* cmake: both zzogl and gsdx require gtk
Actually everything require GTK

PPSSPP Git (2015/01/05) is compiled. PPSSPP is a fast and portable PSP emulator for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux, written in C++.

PPSSPP Git Changelog:
* Fix some glitches in the new AA3 handling.
Matches a test better.
* Add a basic debug console UI to the devmenu that shows some log scrollback and has a little command line.
Useful for debugging on non-Windows in the future. For now non-mobile only (although may lift that restriction later)
* x86jit: Fix crash in prefixes and simd enabled.
* Just to investigate #7269, skip the version check on ARMEABI (very old ARM)
* More reg number asserts
* x86jit fpu regcache: Add extra invariant check for too-large mips register numbers
* Merge pull request #7275 from unknownbrackets/atrac-aa3
Correct sceAtracSetAA3*() handling
* Correct sceAtracSetAA3*() handling.
This is used to send OMA / AA3 files, which have a different format.
Couldn't have been working before, may not work correctly still.
* Update armips.
* Merge pull request #7270 from Bigpet/adhocthread
don't use Thread* to create thread
* don't use Thread* to create thread
slightly less hacky, as in, a little bit closer to what the actual PSP does, although the timings are still complete guesses
also
* Protect the adhoc Events by a mutex lock
* don't use emplace_back since symbian doesn't compile with it
* Fix #6898 - buttons could disappear in non-buffered rendering

rpcs3 Git (2015/01/04) is compiled. rpcs3 is an open source PlayStation 3 (PS3) emulator for the Microsoft Windows. Current versions can run only small homebrew for PS3. Developers are planning to make it to emulate PS3 on its speed in the near future.

rpcs3 purpose:
- Make PS3 developers easily test their apps and homebrews on PC without crashing their PS3 or moving their apps from PC to PS3.
- Just playing PS3 games on your PC and have fun! ( In the future )

Play! Git (2015/01/02) is complied. Play! is an attempt at creating an emulator for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console on the Windows platform. It is currently written in C/C++. It uses an instruction caching/recompilation scheme to achieve better performance while emulating the CPU.

Sony has come a long, long way from the dark days when it was struggling to sell the PlayStation 3. The tech firm just announced that it has sold 18.5 million PlayStation 4systems between the console's November 2013 launch and the start of 2015, about 4.1 million of which reached gamers during the last month of holiday shopping in 2014. How do those numbers stack up? Microsoft doesn't have lifetime Xbox One stats yet, but the figures are stellar in light of Sony's rough experience with its previous-gen hardware. The company took seven years to move 80 million PS3s, and sales didn't really pick up until multiple price cuts convinced wary gamers to hop on the bandwagon. While the PS2 is still Sony's crowning achievement (it sold 150 million units), there's no question that the PS4 is doing just fine so far.

PlayStation owners are once again today experiencing trouble accessing PSN.“We're aware that some players are seeing drops on PSN,” the official PlayStation Twitter feed said. “Engineers are on the case and investigating.”Both PSN and Xbox Live were rocked by a prolonged stint of downtime over Christmas, leading to Sony to offer some free subscription extensions and store discounts. There’s no word yet on the reason for the current problems.The group behind PSN’s Christmas attack has subsequently said it would not disrupt the service again, with VentureBeatclaiming that the decision was made after controversialMegaupload founder Kim Dotcom offered all members of the hacking group responsible free lifetime membership to his new Mega service.However, the site reports that the same group has also launched a DDoS service that allows anyone to rent the power to bring down online networks for as little as $6 a month.All of which means that all major gaming network providers must as a matter of priority develop means to protect their services from such attacks. Both PSN and Xbox Live are integral parts of the PlayStation and Xbox offer.Not only does downtime infuriate paying subscribers but prolonged incidents of the likes seen over Christmas – coupled with a spate of technically troubled games hitting the market in Q4 last year – could potentially have a crippling effect on the long-term health of the console market.

A new hardware add-on for PS4 allows users to install high-capacity larger 3.5-inch hard drives into their consoles.The Nyko Data Bank plugs into the left hand side of the console and, for the price of some aesthetically bulkier but still stylistically consistent heft, lets owners insert a hard drive of their choosing, potentially drastically increasing the current 500GB storage limit.Until now PS4 owners had been limited to using 2.5-inch laptop hard drives (unless of course they were willing to jump through a number of technical hoops detailed online) which are typically more expensive and offer less storage than 3.5-inch models.External hard drives are already supported by the console but cannot be used for things such as game installations and save data. The Data Bank bypasses these restrictions as the console views the storage as ‘internal’.Nyko has also revealed a Type Pad extension for the DualShock 4 which offers a full physical keyboard. Both devices are due out in the first half of this year.

A number of big retailers have cut $20 off the price of the PlayStation TV in the US.VG247 reports that Amazon, GameSpot and Best Buy have all cut the $100 entry-level SKU to $80 while the $140 value bundle has been reduced to $100. It doesn’t appear to be an official price drop, although who knows what deals are being offered by official distributors.In the UK PlayStation TV still retails for the £84.99 it launched at on November 14th.The device, which was rebranded after initially being unveiled as the PlayStation Vita TV, is still lacking many features in the West compared to the services Sony has tied up in Japan.

The PlayStation TV's price tag has been reduced to Black Friday levels by several major US retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Gamestop.Gamespot took note of the unofficial reduction, which sees the core PS TV unit reduced to $80 ($20 off) and the controller-included bundle at $100 ($40 off).

A year into the console's lifespan, PlayStation 4 owners may find themselves running short of space on the platform's included 500GB hard drive. While the PS4's stock drive can be swapped out with a larger-capacity 2.5-inch hard drive intended for laptops, upgrading can prove costly, given the increased price of 2.5-inch drives compared to 3.5-inch models.

Nyko's Data Bank sits atop the PlayStation 4 after partially removing the console's casing, and draws on the PS4's AC adapter to power an attached 3.5-inch hard drive. Nyko tells IGN that it's aiming for a "$30-$40 price range" for the peripheral. Compatible hard drives are sold separately.

Sony has cut the price of DriveClub’s PlayStation Plus Edition Full Game Upgrade to £19.99 on PSN.The game had until now been available for £34.99 to PS+ members, which is now the price of the full game to non PS+ members.The Full Game Upgrade was initially designed to let those who had downloaded the free PS+ version of the game pay to access all of the content reserved for the full game.However, the Free PS+ Edition remains missing in action, three months after the game’s release - although it is not required to run the Upgrade version.The taster was to include ten cars and five tracks from the full game. However, when DriveClub launched to significant technical problems fears arose that the free version would be delayed. And it was – indefinitely – and we’re yet to hear anything beyond vague assertions that the free version is still on both Evolution’s and Sony’s roadmap.At least owners of the full game are now able to enjoy a fully functional title.

The PS4’s ability to play games from any region could be the cause of its sudden delay in China, reports have suggested.Kotaku says that Chinese reports suggest that the delay, announced just days before its proposed Chinese launch on January 11th, is due to complaints that the console’s ability to play games purchased in any region will make it easy for buyers to play titles not approved by the strict Chinese regime.One Chinese forum has even reposted what it claims is a copy of a government report form expressing concern that the potential importing of non-approved games “may bring harm to our nation” and requesting that “Sony China be punished for these anti-China actions”.Although the region status of Chinese consoles has not yet been explicitly specified, review units sent out to the Chinese press were, like all other PS4s, able to play games from any region, including its more liberal-minded neighbour Hong Kong.Sony president and Group CEO Andrew House has previously blamed the delay on a “government requested for a re-evaluation of Sony's business plans”.The company is yet to announce a new release date for the machine in China and has been offering refunds to those who have already pre-ordered it.

Ever since its Christmas Day attack that took PlayStation and Xbox Live servers down, the "Lizard Squad" has taunted authorities while simultaneously trying to market its takedown-for-hire DDoS service. Police apparently arrested a London-based man affiliated with the group before the turn of the year (although it was over claims of PayPal hacking), but UK authorities have today claimed that they've tracked down at least one member who was involved in the attacks. Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) Cyber Crime Unit say that they have arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with a "the denial of service attack of Sony Playstation and Xbox systems in 2014 and swatting offences."

Want a PS4 and an Xbox One, but don't have the space in your entertainment center? Enter the PlayBox. The laptop-style console mod, created by serial tinkerer Eddie Zarick, crams both systems into a single design, complete with a 22-inch, 1080p display. It's not sleek, but seems perfectly playable despite a few shortcomings. For instance, to keep its innards cool you can't have both consoles powered on simultaneously. Zarick says he's also had trouble with the PS4's capacitive power button, although you can always get around it by pressing the PS nub on Sony's DualShock 4 controller. Unfortunately, the Playbox was a special commission, so you're unlikely to lay your hands on one. Still, if you're desperate for something similar, you could always request a follow-up -- maybe challenge Zarick to throw a Wii U in there too?

Sony has revealed which games and DLC on the PlayStation Store were big hits last year, with Destiny and Minecraft topping the rankings.Posted on the US PlayStation Blog, the charts show that Activision's sci-fi shooter Destiny attracted the most downloads on PS4, with ever-popular block-building hit Minecraft the most popular digital purchase on PS3.While the PS4 Top Ten was dominated by blockbusters – Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, The Last of Us Remastered and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor among them – the PS3 rankings saw the addition of more niche titles, including post-apocalyptic animal simulation oddity Tokyo Jungle, which outsold games including Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and South Park: The Stick of Truth.Destiny recreated its success over in the Add-On charts, with the title's Expansion Pass taking the Number One spot for PS4. Its first full expansion, The Dark Below, placed fourth. Extra content for Battlefield and Call of Duty rounded out the Top Five.Meanwhile, on PS3, past iterations in the Call of Duty series filled the rankings, with packs for 2012's Black Ops II and 2013's Ghosts occupying all places bar one. Story-driven expansion Left Behind for The Last of Us plugged the gap at number three.Shrinking down to the Vita handheld, the chart appears to reveal the console's strength as a platform for more niche titles. Japanese RPG Sword Art Online -Hollow Fragment- was the top-selling game for the whole of 2014, placing ahead of the portable version of Minecraft.The PlayStation Store also plays host to a collection of Sony's past hits, in the form of PlayStation and PS2 'Classics'.In a year ripe with Grand Theft Auto V news, it is perhaps no surprise that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the most popular throwback title. Rockstar's 2004 crime opus was followed by a trilogy of past Naughty Dog titles – Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.The ever-popular epic RPG Final Fantasy VII placed ninth, with a remastered version of the game announced for PS4 at Sony's PlayStation Experience event.Take a look at the full charts below:PS4 Games

To celebrate the twentieth birthday of the PlayStation brand, Sony is hosting a digital sale on a wide swath of games for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita and PSP.

Highlights of the sale include Killzone: Shadow Fall at $24, Grand Theft Auto 3,Vice City and Vice City Stories at $4 a piece and Mass Effect 2: Ultimate Edition at $14. If you prefer games from the original PlayStation era, you'll find digital re-releases of Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9 eachpriced at $6 and Jet Moto at $3. As with all PlayStation Network sales, these discounts are even larger for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

After confirming that the Firmware 6.61 has barely changed (compared to firmware 6.60), developer Qwikrazor has updated the Pro CFW (partly) and the 6.60 Downgrader (once again, partly) to support the firmware 6.61.

The ME & LME CFWs are currently being updated as well.

If you ask why I wrote partly behind the PRO CFW and Downgrader, then you’re asking the right questions.

At first the PRO CFW: I said partly because Qwikrazor did not update the cIPL Installer for the PRO CFW (only supports PSP 1000s & non-88v3 2000s), which means there is not “full CFW” for firmware 6.61 as of now.

PRO CFW should properly work as a temporary CFW on any PSP (be it a 1000, 2000, any of the different 3000s, an E1000 or the Go), though.

Now about the downgrader. The downgrader is capable of downgrading PSPs from firmware 6.61 to a lower firmware, but it is currently not capable of downgrading from 6.61 to 6.60.

You will have to downgrade to 6.39 and then update to 6.60, if you really want to return to firmware 6.60.

Since the PSP E1000 can only install the firmwares (6.50 as pre-installed, no installer available) 6.60 and 6.61, and the downgrader can not downgrade to 6.60, it (the PSP E1000) is currently not supported by the 6.61 downgrader.

Thats pretty much it. We expect that the PRO CFW cIPL Flasher will be fixed in the future, and a newer version of the downgrader be available soon~ish.

If you prefer the ME or LME CFW, then be patient, since it is already being updated to firmware 6.61. No words about the 6.60 HEN, though.

Here is PRO-C2 for 6.60 and 6.61 from the latest commit on the Pro CFW repo, 16-12-2014.
The CIPL flasher is left out intentionally for 6.61 (causes a brick).
Files named with the commit date from the Pro CFW repo.

This is a mod (hex edited) of the 6.60 Chronoswitch Downgrader by Davee/some1.
I only tested it on a 1k model, I couldn't downgrade to 6.60 from 6.61 (maybe corrupt updater), but I was able to downgrade to 5.00 from 6.61, 6.20+ might work, haven't tested it though.Downgrader_661.zip

A ps3xportGUI is based on version 0.2 of ps3xport allows to use all the features of ps3xport through a graphical interface. Just run Aps3xportGUI to start the application. * * Requires .NET Framework 4.5. Please provide feedback on this application. A ps3xportGUI Source: gueux-forum.net

check out the Live Downloads section for more builds
Please note that you have to place the correct DLL into the lib folder and in ther into the corresponding folder of your build (e.g. windows-amd64). Also the external software renderer option must be selected in the Video preferences in jpcsp. Please visit the forum in this link for more information.

Just a few days ago a new PSP firmware, version 6.61, has been released by Sony. After taking the firmware apart, we were able to check if the firmware 6.61 patches the 6.60 exploits…And it does not. All the signed content is still working (Homebrews, fake signed ISOs, sign_np signed ISOs) and so is the HBL, at least if you use the VHBL builds, instead of the old 6.60 XMB HBL build. The most important things, the Custom Firmwares and the downgrader, are, as of now, not working on firmware 6.61. But dont worry, it does not look like that the firmware 6.61 changed that much, which therefore means that the CFWs can easily be updated for firmware 6.61. Through a few dirty tricks it is possible to install a cIPL CFW (those for the PSP 1000s & non-88v3 2000s) on firmware 6.61 as of now, but it is worth to mention that the 6.60 CFWs are not fully working on firmware 6.61. The custom firmwares are currently being updated for the new firmware 6.61, so that a properly working 6.61 CFW can be released in near future. It is currently unknown if the downgrader will be updated for firmware 6.61, but we think that someone will do it, eventually.

The REBUG Team (Evilsperm, Cyberskunk, Habib and Joonie) have released the Official REBUG 4.65.2 Cobra 7.03 custom firmware for PS3 consoles. I assume this is the final version due to the lack of BobbyBangin leak excuses (so far). You can find the related downloads here as usual. Have fun!

Habib over at psx-scene.com has released a new custom firmware for PS3 based on original firmware 4.66. You can find the release in the download section here as usual. This was built by hand rather than relying on MFW builder according to Habib. Read on for the long list of impressive features..."

The Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition is $62.76 for both Xbox One and PS4on Wal Mart's site, though it's unclear why or for how long. The Limited Editionnormally costs $100 and includes a custom art book, a steelbook case, Batman: Arkham Knight #0 comic, an exclusive character skin pack, and a Batman Memorial statue.

Plex, the personal media streaming service, can now send content directly to the PlayStation 4 and PS3 with a new app now available on the PSN.

The program allows users to stream media from their computers to any Plex-ready device, including mobile phones, tablets and now the PlayStation home console ecosystem. While the service may not mean much to PS3 users – since that console has its own built-in media server support – a Plex debut on PS4 means users can now use the console as a hub for their own downloaded media content.

There is a catch, of course: Plex streaming to PlayStation consoles is only available for Plex Pass subscribers, which is priced at $5 a month ($40 year, $150 lifetime). The app "will be made available, for a fee, to those without a Plex Pass" in the future, a post on the PlayStation Blog revealed.

The PlayStation Blog says the app is available in the US, Canada and Latin America. On the Plex website, the company notes a select number of other regions where the app will be available, including the UK. The Plex site also reveals a few additional details, such as the PS3's limitation of streaming 720p content using the app and the Plex on PlayStation's lack of support for the MKV file format and DTS audio.

At launch, Plex on PlayStation will only support video content, but music and photo streaming "will be coming shortly."

Sony has launched a new sale on the PlayStation Store, discounting a large number of PS4, PS3 and Vita games.As well as price reductions on numerous 2K titles and DLC, the sale also offers discounts on a number of other games, including indie titles. All deals below are active until February 3, unless otherwise noted.

Sony caused quite a stir with the unveiling of the 20th Anniversary Edition PlayStation 4, and gamers fell over themselves to get their hands on one of 12,300 pieces of gaming nostalgia. Those online sales and promotional '80s stores have now closed, but the company isn't finished yet. It's just put up the most collectable PlayStation 4 of all for auction and is now taking bids for the first 20th Anniversary Edition PS4 ever made -- the one that carries the coveted 00001/12300 plate.

Sony took a bit of flack over the Christmas break when its PlayStation Network was hit by a devastating denial-of-service attack. It took a few days for the gaming service to recover from Lizard Squad's assault and, to make up for the festive downtime, Sony is now rewarding its players with a five-day PSN extension and a one-time 10 percent PSN store discount. Today, we've finally got the all-important UK code: T6R3KB529K. It's valid until 9am on January 26th and can be applied to the total value of your PS3 or PS4 basket. There are a few exceptions, however. Sony says the code won't work for video rentals, game pre-orders, PS Plus and Music Unlimited subscriptions -- that's quite a list, but at least you can buy some digital games to tide you over until Evolve's release next month. Oh, and if you live outside of the UK, head to the source below for all of Sony's other codes.

PlayStation Network users involved in the 2011 hack of Sony's console service are at last being offered legal restitution in the form of free games, subscriptions and themes.Games Industry reports PSN account holders who had their personal info stolen during the security breach have been given the choice between select PS3 and PSP games, PS3 themes, or a three-month subscription to PlayStation Plus.The PS Plus option is only available if the claimant isn't already a subscriber, while the free games are limited to a list of eight PS3 and six PSP titles.Along with the general restitution, individual claimants that are able to prove out-of-pocket expenses due to identity theft stemming from the hack, the claims fund will pay out reimbursements of up to $2,500 – all such claims are to be proportionately scaled down if the total amount would exceed $1 million.Furthermore, if a customer stopped using PSN because of the hack and carried a positive balance of $2 or more in their PSN account, they can have the account closed permanently and receive a reimbursement on the unused funds.The settlement site notes it's still subject to court approval at a hearing scheduled for May 1st, and claims can be made until August 31st. Here's an image of the claimant's option form:

If you were a PSN, Qriocity or Sony Online Entertainment user at the time of the April 2011 Sony hack that disrupted the PlayStation Network for nearly a month and compromised 70 million user accounts, now's your chance to get a piece of the class action settlement levied against Sony last year.

To qualify, you must have held a PSN, Qriocity or Sony Online Entertainment account on or before May 14, 2011. Each service is eligible to receive different claims, but PSN users are able to receive either one or two games - if you already received a free game in Sony's 2011 "Welcome Back" promotion, you're only eligible for one; if not, you're eligible to choose two - from a list that includes standouts like LittleBigPlanet and God of War HD. Notably, none of the games on offer are for the PlayStation 4. If none of the games tickle your fancy, you can instead choose free dynamic themes for your PlayStation 3 or free PlayStation Plus subscription time.

The first-off-the-line Anniversary Edition PlayStation 4 went for ¥15.135 million in an online charity auction last night, which converts to a stunning $128,000. Sony Japan's auction ended this weekend with the huge bid on the special grey console, which is unit "00001" of 12,300.

"We appreciate all who participated in the auction and are surprised at the highest bid price, which was higher than our expectations," a

ColorWare has released a pair of 24-Karat gold-plated game controllers for Xbox One and PS4.The new controllers will set you back $300 (£199), and they have already sold out as gamers try and get their hands on the bling.Only 25 pieces of each device were created, which were based on Sony’s DualShock 4 and Microsoft’s official game pad for Xbox One.The controllers also come equipped with share and option buttons, as well as a six-axis motion sensing system.A few years ago we also saw the very first gold-plated Xbox One, which hit Harrods with a price tag of £6,000.http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...for-300/035486

Sony's PlayStation 3 is getting a bit long in the tooth, but if it's still your preferred device for streaming video, Sky is finally ready to lend its support. Following the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4, the broadcaster is launching a Sky Go app today for Sony's older gaming console. As per usual, the service lets you watch live programming and stream videos on-demand, including the bevy of films offered via Sky Movies. Simply having a Sky TV subscription isn't enough though -- like its other supported gaming consoles, to use Sky Go on the PS3 you'll need an active Sky Go Extra subscription (£5 per month) or Sky Multiscreen. If that sounds like quite a stretch for your wallet, there's always Now TV, which separates some of Sky's offerings into standalone monthly subscriptions.

If you regularly use the Maps and YouTube apps on your PlayStation Vita, please raise a hand. If you'd be mightily disappointed if those were to disappear from the portable console, keep your hand up and someone will bring you a tissue. That's because, unfortunately, Sony has announced that both features will be going the way of all things very shortly. Maps is getting erased from history with the March software update, which will, naturally, also kill the geographic elements of the Near social gaming app. YouTube, meanwhile, will stop working on April 20th, although the app itself is being pulled from the PlayStation Store from today. The company does, however, point out that you can still access YouTube via your browser, but let's be honest - it's at that point you probably just pull out your smartphone.

In a brief Twitter message, Sony has announced that official support for the Maps and YouTube apps found on the Vita handheld will soon come to an end.

The message offers links to support pages for both apps which reveal exactly when the software will cease to function. While all features of the Maps app (and unspecified features of the Near app) will go dark as part of an update planned to launch in March, the YouTube app will be gone by April 20. Today marks the final day the Vita's YouTube app will be available for download from the PlayStation Network store.

Despite the removal of the apps, Vita owners will still be able to access YouTube and numerous (superior) online maps via the handheld's web browser. Our attempts to reach Sony for an official explanation of this decision have so far gone unanswered.http://www.joystiq.com/2015/01/28/so...-youtube-apps/

In a brief Twitter message, Sony has announced that official support for the Maps and YouTube apps found on the Vita handheld will soon come to an end.

The message offers links to support pages for both apps which reveal exactly when the software will cease to function. While all features of the Maps app (and unspecified features of the Near app) will go dark as part of an update planned to launch in March, the YouTube app will be gone by April 20. Today marks the final day the Vita's YouTube app will be available for download from the PlayStation Network store.

Despite the removal of the apps, Vita owners will still be able to access YouTube and numerous (superior) online maps via the handheld's web browser. Our attempts to reach Sony for an official explanation of this decision have so far gone unanswered.http://www.joystiq.com/2015/01/28/so...-youtube-apps/

The owner of a super-rare limited edition 20th Anniversary PlayStation 4 has customised their console and placed it back on sale - for £1999.Ebay seller krystalboutique has coated the console in gold Swarovski crystals (thanks,L1keMike).The model has even been given a shiny crystal version of Sony's PlayStation logo."The pictures don't do this much justice," the seller wrote."It's STUNNING to look at, very sleek and would be an amazing show piece as well as a usable and totally functional console unit for anyone looking for a completely unique piece of PlayStation history or an amazing gift!"Sony produced just 12,300 units of the 20th Anniversary PS4, each of which is individually numbered.Fans could apply to buy one via competitions, or alternatively nab one in person at a number of unique locations - such as the special PlayStation '94 pop-up shop in London.The console's RRP was £399, although a limited number were sold in the UK for a mere £19.94.But within hours, the consoles were being placed on eBay for thousands of pounds.This week Sony Japan auctioned off its PS4 20th Anniversary Edition unit No. 00001 for £85K - proceeds from which are being donated to charity.At the time of publication there have been zero bids.

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Welcome to the DCEmu Homebrew and Gaming Network. This Network of sites is owned and ran by fans of the retro consoles and the latest next-gen consoles, we post news on all the consoles we cover about hardware aspects, gaming, modification, Hacking and Homebrew. Homebrew and Emulation are software thats made using free and legal tools to play on games consoles. This Network is the only worldwide network of sites where coders can upload and post news of their own releases and get the credit and comments they deserve for all their hardwork. We have a Network that currently supports PSvita, Nintendo 3DS, WiiU, PS4, Xbox720, Nintendo Wii, Xbox360,Pandora, Dingoo, Wiz, PS3, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Nintendo DS, PSP, GBA, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Android, Apple, Blackberry, GP32, GP2X, Nintendo 64, Snes, Gameboy, Nes, Virtual Boy, Apple iPhone, Ipad, Ipod Touch, Ipod, Windows Phone and also Mobile Phone Emulation. When new consoles appear we will expand to cover those consoles.

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